Nuance to Acquire TouchCommerce for $215 Million

Nuance Communications, Inc., a provider of voice and language solutions for businesses and consumers, has signed a definitive agreement to acquire TouchCommerce, a provider of digital customer service and engagement solutions, for $215 million.

The transaction has been approved by both companies’ boards of directors and is expected to close by the end of Nuance's fiscal year 2016.

According to Nuance, the addition of TouchCommerce will help accelerate its enterprise business, expanding its customer care solutions with new digital engagement offerings. TouchCommerce provides omni-channel solutions to engage customers across devices through online chat, guides, personalized content, and other automated tools. The TouchCommerce assisted-service platform is expected to complement Nuance’s AI-powered customer self-service solutions, providing enterprises with the ability to improve their engagement with customers across all channels, including phone, web, mobile, and social.

With customer service interactions moving quickly toward more pervasive digital engagement across web, mobile, and social platforms, consumers increasingly want to determine how they interact or transact, and to have the ability to move between web chat, social media, self-service, and the convenience of human interaction. This is creating a growing market opportunity for Nuance’s Enterprise business, according to Nuance.

The combination of technologies will provide enterprises with a customer engagement solution that connects with consumers anytime and anywhere, across voice, digital and mobile devices to deliver better customer experiences and business results, noted Robert Weideman, executive vice president and general manager for Nuance Enterprise Division.